Factor TC’s HARMAN Professional Solution for Bulgarian Amphitheater

Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:12:02 PM America/New_York

NORTHRIDGE, California - Situated close to the Bulgarian seaside town of Varna on the Black Sea coast, a new 2,000-seat amphitheater has opened in the Kamchia Resort, with the ocean providing a stunning backdrop. Spanning a total area of 3,105 square meters, the classic design has been treated to a first-class technical infrastructure, with installation company Factor TC specifying a HARMAN’s JBL VRX/SRX sound reinforcement system—part of a complete HARMAN Professional deployment—as well as designing and installing the lighting.

Factor TC were recommended to the project and the design was overseen by Vesselin Todorov, president of the Sofia based company, along with Ing. Michael Michaelov from the Factor TC office in Varna.

Clusters of eight JBL VRX928LA (four each side) Constant Curvature loudspeakers and 16 SRX722 loudspeakers, underpinned by six ground-stacked SRX728S subwoofers, provide balanced arena coverage for a range of performances—from full-on rock concerts to spoken word—with an LED light and water fountain show also presented in front of the stage. Meanwhile, six JBL EON515XT active loudspeakers, serving as floor monitors, provide performers with their reference sound. All speakers are weatherized and water resistant to withstand the rigors of operating outside.

The passive elements of the system are powered by a combination of three Crown XTi 6002 and 10 XTi 4002 amplifiers. System management is under the command of a dbx DriveRack 260, which provides full bandpass and crossover configurations as well as independent output processing, augmented by a pair of dbx 166 compressor/gates, dbx 2231 dual 31-band graphic equalizer and Lexicon MX400 4-in/4-out reverb/FC processor.

The front-of-house sound engineer has been equipped with a Soundcraft GB8/32. This 32-channel desk was chosen for its versatility, since its dual-mode topology allows it to be used both for FOH and monitor duties.

Both the lighting and loudspeaker systems are assembled on a dismountable mobile aluminum structure and control is handled from a dedicated control room connected to the stage.

While the classic amphitheater has been designed from the ground up the remainder of the resort is undergoing complete refurbishment by owners, the government of Moscow. Project management was handled by PMC, ing. Ludmil Angelov was the construction company and Viktor Buzov the architect. SOC Kamchia are the main investors.

The result is a first-class construction, with the surrounding landscaping and planting complementing the natural environment of the facility.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2012.